Malaya publisher posts bail for another libel case

Malaya publisher and chairman of the editorial board Amado “Jake” Macasaet once again posted bail yesterday before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), this time for a libel case filed by the husband of Sen.Miriam Defensor-Santiago, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Narciso Santiago Jr.

Macasaet, together with his co-respondents Enrique Romualdez, Malaya’s executive editor, and Joy de los Reyes, its editor-in-chief, posted P10,000 bail each. 

The three went to the sala of Judge Virgilio Macaraeg of the Manila RTC Branch 37, at around 10 a.m. yesterday to pay the bail bond after the warrants for their arrest were issued Thursday.

The libel charge stemmed from a column published in the newspaper regarding the dispute between two warring cockfighting groups — the United Cockers Association of the Philippines (UCAP) and the National Cockers Association (NCA).

The complaint stemmed from Macasaet’s April 21, 1999 article entitled “Santiago’s Gambling Habits.” 

Last Thursday morning, an earlier warrant of arrest was served against him by the Manila RTC for another article on cockfighting.